BRIEFLY NOTED

BRIEFLY NOTED; BOMB IN PHILIPPINES

Published: February 16, 2002

A homemade bomb exploded early on Saturday at a market on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, killing two people and wounding 45, the authorities said. The explosion occurred as American troops began military exercises with the Philippine Army on the nearby island of Basilan. Col. Romeo Tolentino said the blast ''could be an act of retaliation'' by extortion gangs at public markets,'' or possibly ''a diversionary attack'' of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda.